Letter to the editor: Hate doesn't make us great

“Hate does not make America great.”

I spotted this bumper sticker among dozens of others during the presidential campaign last year, and, as a Christian, it stuck with me. Hate seems to be overwhelming me in the first month of Donald Trump’s second term. If many of the right majority are also Christians, I have to ask: Where is the outrage created by recent political decisions? The Bible tells of Jesus serving the least, the last, the lost. It might be widows and orphans — or trans individuals, immigrants and addicts.

There is no hate in Jesus’ message. None. We are called to serve in love and kindness, to be a voice of compassion and dignity in a broken world.

Are you acting in love when you condemn someone who doesn’t look, act or vote like you? Jesus said, “I promise you on the day of judgment, everyone will account for every careless word they have spoken. On that day they will be told they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.” (Matt. 12:36-37).

It’s time to condemn the hate that is spreading through this country like wildfire. The late South African Bishop Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Do you see yourself in that statement? Jesus will too. It’s time to speak up.

Allison Reynolds-Florio

Penn Township, Westmoreland County